THE LOOP — A smoking manhole cover caused temporary traffic congestion near City Hall late Thursday morning.
Smoke began emanating from a manhole cover in the intersection of Washington and LaSalle streets Thursday morning, when firefighters had to close the intersection next to City Hall so the problem could be inspected, said Juan Hernandez, Chicago Fire Department spokesman.
Underground electrical equipment had malfunctioned, causing the smoke, Hernandez said. Firefighters did not have to extinguish any flames, he said.
ComEd's underground crews were brought to the scene to assess the damage, and the workers determined that the malfunctioned equipment was likely owned by the city, said Liz Keating, ComEd spokesman.
"It's not coming from ComEd equipment," she said.
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